Bloomberg: Marijuana Arrests In NYC Will Mean A Desk Appearance Ticket, Not A Night In Jail

[kpete]

Source: Huffington Post

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Thursday that those arrested in New York City for possessing small amounts of marijuana will no longer have to spend a night in jail.

The new measure, set to take effect next month, was announced during Bloomberg's State of the City speech. From the speech:

“But we know that there’s more we can do to keep New Yorkers, particularly young men, from ending up with a criminal record. Commissioner Kelly and I support Governor Cuomo’s proposal to make possession of small amounts of marijuana a violation, rather than a misdemeanor and we’ll work to help him pass it this year. But we won’t wait for that to happen.

“Right now, those arrested for possessing small amounts of marijuana are often held in custody overnight. We’re changing that. Effective next month, anyone presenting an ID and clearing a warrant check will be released directly from the precinct with a desk appearance ticket to return to court. It’s consistent with the law, it’s the right thing to do and it will allow us to target police resources where they’re needed most."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/14/bloomberg-marijuana-arrest-nyc-ticket-not-jail_n_2687954.html

[Hard Assets]

1. Good enough start.

Now he needs to get the state to legalize marijuana too.

[bluestateguy]

2. Step in the right direction

I don't think MJ should be tickted at all, unless they are DUI or publicly stoned, but this is a step in the right direction.

[Uncle Joe]

3. A baby step in the right direction, now legalize it.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[bamacrat]

4. Great thing to hear.

Bloomberg's not all bad.

[Proletariatprincess]

5. could this be a way around the Feds?

What if states and or communities deside to "punish" marijuana offenders with a teeny tiny fine and dismiss the cases. Say......50 cents for each violation. No bookings. No jail time. Just a desk appearance and a fine. What could the feds do? The offenders would have been penalized according to community standards. They paid thier debt to society, right?

[ButterflyBlood]

6. Some places have basically done just that

Ann Arbor, MI for example has a municipal ordinance banning marijuana possession...with the penalty being a civil infraction and a $5 fine. Even before legalization lots of cities in Colorado including Denver had similar laws, or laws stating that marijuana had the be the lowest police priority (like lower than jaywalking and littering.)

And then a lot of places just opt to not really enforce it. I understand in California it's usually just "assumed" anyone with a small amount of marijuana has a prescription for it even if they can't provide evidence of it, and where I live in Minneapolis I found a grand total of nine arrests for marijuana possession in the last year the full police records are easily available (2009). That is about 1/5 the number for public urination. In addition the reports for all nine showed that the perpetrator was guilty of another crime in the process. Maybe the cops here realize that they have more important things to do than try to prevent people from getting stoned and eating potato chips in their basements. People use marijuana rather openly (you can smell it in lots of rather public locations) and I've never met anyone who considers it a big deal.

[ButterflyBlood]

7. New York has already decriminalized marijuana anyway

The current penalty for simple possession is a $100 fine. With the way prisons work I think it's safe to say keeping someone locked up overnight and processing them will cost quite a bit more than $100, so it doesn't make sense even from an economic perspective.

[sir pball]

8. Sounds like a procedural change in the NYPD, not a legal one.

I know plenty of people who've gotten dinged for weed here - the only one who ever spent a night in jail for simple possession had an out-of-state license; I got caught with a can of beer in the park once before I got an NY license and the (very nice, very reasonable) cop told me the protocol at the time was to not issue desk tickets to non-NY residents because of the hassle involved in putting out warrants if they fail to appear. He then gave my friend a $25 ticket and let me go...he was a pretty cool kid.